discover
by tatty ted
Summary: When Carly discovers that the man who raised her isn't her father, she sets out to discover who exactly her father is and why her parents left Cornwall for a rundown village in the middle of nowhere. - —Lucy/Angus/Doug, short story.
1. CHAPTER I

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**CHAPTER ONE**  
_let me remind, you chose._

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"We need to talk." It's her sixteenth birthday when her parents sit her down at the kitchen table. She doesn't know why they need to talk to her, she finds herself thinking about everything she's done recently trying to come up with an excuse for her behaviour (if that's what they're talking about)

She's had a nice birthday, it was different to the others. The atmosphere was more, what's the word, stranger than last year and the year before. Carly sat at the table like her parents told her too and found herself scratching her nails along the wood, a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She remembers glancing at her parents, wondering if it was bad news; "What's wrong?"

Lucy and Angus glanced at one another. They had prepared themselves for sixteen years for this but now it had arrived, they couldn't find the words. Lucy finds herself taking a deep breath feeling Angus' hand squeezes hers underneath the table.

"Carly, Angus isn't your father."

Carly listens to what her mother's saying, exchanges looks between both Lucy and Angus and starts to laugh.

"Carly, did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah that Angus isn't my father." She looked at the man who'd raised her for the last sixteen years and smiled. It wasn't a shock nor a surprise to Carly, ever since she was young she'd had her own doubts about who her father was.

"I already know."

Lucy and Angus looked at each other for a moment, "You do?"

"Yeah," she smiled brightly, "I found out about a month ago, I came across my birth certificate."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"No, I don't see why it should." Carly can understand why her parents are so anxious about her reaction but it was all cool. Angus may not have been the one to father her as such but he was the man who raised her. Therefore in Carly's eyes, he'd always be her father. (blood doesn't always mean anything right?)

"We were going to tell you," Lucy began but Carly cut her off. There was no need to justify keeping it a secret. Parents tried to protect their children and that's exactly what Lucy and Angus had done, though Carly wasn't sure what they were protecting her from.

The rest of her birthday is eventful, she blows the candles out on her birthday cake and makes a wish (I want to find my father) The day after her birthday she packs a bag and leaves home. There's a note on her bed explaining her reasons and apologising saying that she's _got_ to do this.

She knows its hard for her parents to let her go, to discover the unknown. She knows she's probably going to open a can of worms of why her mother left her biological father and she knows it'll be hard for all of them.

She just can't stand back though, she _has_ to know the man who _is_ her father, her bloodline, the reason she was here today.

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**jottings** / if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review!:3


	2. CHAPTER II

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**CHAPTER TWO**  
_it's prom night._

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She arrives in Cornwall on the 18th. It's a beautiful place and only heightens her suspicions of why her parents left a beautiful village for a rundown town in the middle of nowhere. She isn't stupid. She isn't a kid anymore. There was a reason why they ran away from this place.

For three weeks she spends her entire time in the library, trying to find as much information on her father as possible. Doug Kersey was a Detective Inspector who had worked in the same division as her mother Lucy. He was an old man now, had retired from the force about eighteen months ago, never married or had children (well, those he knew about she thought)

He lived in a bungalow by the beach and Carly scribbled down the address on a piece of scrap paper. She sat on the steps to the beach for a while, trying to pluck up the courage to meet him. The man who fathered her but didn't raise her for reasons unknown to Carly.

Yes she could've asked her parents but she wanted to hear the reasons from him. She took a deep breath, stood up and slowly walked up to the house. She knocked on the door and waited, her stomach flipping nervously. A couple of seconds later, the door opened and an old man stood there.

"Hello?" Doug Kersey never really had any visitors since he retired from the force, especially not stunning young ladies. He smiled warmly knowing who his visitor was. It was hard to notice Lucy Lane's daughter, _their_ daughter.

"Carly?"

She nodded and smiled softly, "Yeah I'm Carly."

He invited her inside and she took off her shoes, leaving them by the front door. The door closed and locked behind them and she followed Doug into the living room. He asked if she'd like a drink but she declined, she wasn't thirsty.

As she perched on the edge of the settee, she realised how strange it was. Here she was, in front of her father, neither of them knowing what to say to the other person. The silence grew and Carly realised that it wasn't awkward, just slightly nerve racking.

"How did you know who I was?"

"You look just like your mother," he smiled warmly, "plus you don't think I'd forget my own daughter do you?"

Carly _did_ look like her mother. She had the same figure, same strawberry blonde hair and green eyes. Not to mention she had her mother's personality and stubbornness. That was another reason why she knew she was different from Angus, she was _too_ much like her mother.

"Did you always know about me?"

"Your mother wouldn't let me forget you." He smiled. This woman before him was his daughter. Not a child, not a teenager but almost an adult. The little girl he had last seen at eleven years old was a beautiful young woman and it made him quite sad he hadn't been around.

"Why didn't you ever visit?"

"I did when you were younger."

"Why didn't you both raise me? Carly had too many questions she wanted to ask. Why this, what that. She was afraid that some of the questioning may be too personal, upset Doug and her parents back home. It was probably opening a lot of old wounds that had healed over time.

Doug was silent for a moment. He had a lifetime to prepare himself for whatever questions Carly wanted to ask but it was different now she was here. It was harder to tell his daughter why he wanted another male to raise his daughter.

"I loved your mother, I still do. There's a considerable age gap between the two of us and I decided I didn't want to be a burden on your mother. When she met Angus and discovered she was pregnant, I told her she should marry Angus. He wouldn't be a burden."

"And just like that mum agreed?" Carly tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear, "mum's stubborn. It is unfortunately, where I get it from."

Doug smiled softly, "No she didn't agree. She argued with me for three days until I told her it was for the best. I made her promise that no matter what, she'd keep me updated on you and tell you the truth when you were old enough to understand and find me yourself."

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**jottings** / if you like it enough to favourite/alert, please leave a review:3


	3. CHAPTER III

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**CHAPTER THREE**  
_you'll find my footprints in the sand_

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It's three days into her visit when he tells her the one thing he's been dreading telling her.

He sits her down on the settee and she feels a sense of déjá vu, Carly's been here before. She feels her palms getting sticky, her heart racing and her breathing becoming more erratic. He kneels in front of her, takes her face in his hands and tells her;

"I'm dying, I have cancer. I don't have long left."

She swallows. Her eyes begin to sting and she screams, "No! You're not! You can't be, no dad I've just found you."

She bursts into tears and he holds his only daughter, hugging her tightly. He kisses the top of her head and whispers soothing words that it's all going to be okay, it's going to be okay (but they both know it isn't. he's dying)

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Five days later he develops pneumonia and ends up in hospital.

She spends her days beside his bed, only moving to visit the toilet or drink the tea from the machine. She calls home, to tells her mother that her father's sick and that he wants to see her before he goes.

All three of them sit there, Carly, Lucy and Angus waiting for him to wake up. He spends most of the time sleeping. Doug takes Carly's hand in his and squeezes it, using all the strength he can.

"I'm proud of the beautiful woman you've become. You make me proud to call you my daughter," he kisses her hand and she has no choice but to go outside. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, crying for the man she's only just met and already losing.

After Carly he thanks Angus. He thanks him for loving Lucy, for looking after her and most importantly, raising Carly into the beautiful woman she was. He took on a job not many men would've and no words would be able to thank him enough. Angus leaves the room, a lump in his own throat.

He sees Carly outside, sitting on the floor crying her heart out. He kneels down and hugs her tightly, whispering words of comfort that they'd get through this. It only makes her cry harder, knowing her father's going and he'll never come back.

Lucy's alone in the room with Doug. He's growing weaker and she sits on the edge of the bed. Her heart hurts and she wonders if a piece of her heart is breaking apart (her first love, her true love is dying)

"Thank you," she whispers, her fingers entwined with his. She thanks him for loving her, teaching her things and most of all, giving her the most beautiful daughter. He uses all his strength to reach up, kiss her cheek and whisper with his dying breath;

"I love you."

The heart monitor he's attached to begins to squeal and his grip loosens. She smiled sadly, tears beginning to pool in her eyes and roll down her cheeks. Kissing his cheek for a final time, she whispers; "I love you too."

She leaves the room. As she steps out, two pairs of eyes look at her. She reads their mind before they can ask the question. She nods her head and Carly cries harder. Hugging one another tightly, they began to slowly walk away from the man who had brought them together.

It was only later when Carly lay on her parents bed that she realised how selfless her father had been. Because of her biological father, she had a family unit. She smiled softly, snuggled into Angus and whispered; "Thank you, thank you so much."

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**jottings** / if you like it enough to favourite, please leave a review:3


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